1946 World Series
The 1946 World Series was played in October 1946 between the St. Louis Cardinals (representing the National League) and the Boston Red Sox (representing the American League). In the eighth inning of Game 7, with the score 3–3, the Cardinals' Enos Slaughter opened the inning with a single but two batters failed to advance him. With two outs, Harry Walker walloped a hit over Johnny Pesky's head into left-center field. As Leon Culberson chased it down, Slaughter started his dash. Pesky caught Culberson's throw, turned and—perhaps surprised to see Slaughter headed for the plate—hesitated just a split second before throwing home. Roy Partee had to take a few steps up the third base line to catch Pesky's toss, but Slaughter was safe without a play at the plate and Walker was credited with an RBI double. The Cardinals won the game and the Series in seven games, giving them their sixth championship. Boston superstar Ted Williams played the Series injured and was largely ineffective but refused to use his injury as an excuse. The World Series was back to the 2–3–2 format for home teams, and has been used ever since. Summary NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3) Matchups Game 1 Sunday, October 6, 1946 at Sportsman's Park (III) in St. Louis, Missouri Game 2 Monday, October 7, 1946 at Sportsman's Park (III) in St. Louis, Missouri Game 3 Wednesday, October 9, 1946 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts Game 4 Thursday, October 10, 1946 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts This is the only game in World Series history that three players on the same team (St. Louis) had four or more hits (Enos Slaughter, Whitey Kurowski and Joe Garagiola had four each). Game 5 Friday, October 11, 1946 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts Game 6 Sunday, October 13, 1946 at Sportsman's Park (III) in St. Louis, Missouri Game 7 Tuesday, October 15, 1946 at Sportsman's Park (III) in St. Louis, Missouri Composite box 1946 World Series (4–3): St. Louis Cardinals (N.L.) over Boston Red Sox (A.L.) |}} Highlights *This was the first World Series appearance for the Red Sox since 1918 and it would be the last appearance until "the Impossible Dream" 21 years later. *The World Series loss snapped the Red Sox's record of winning their first five postseason series, a feat that would not be matched until the Florida Marlins did it 57 years later in the 2003 World Series. *Joe Cronin became the fourth manager to take two teams to the World Series (Pat Moran, Bill McKechnie, and Joe McCarthy were the first three) but was the first who did not win with either of them. * Several sources erroneously reported that Harry Walker hit a single allowing Enos Slaughter to score. It was officially scored a double. Series quotes Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 208–212) *Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2154. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. * External links * 1946 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com * [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1946 1946 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] * 1946 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com * 1946 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org * Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Enos Slaughter's Mad Dash Category:World Series World Series Category:St. Louis Cardinals Category:Boston Red Sox